They are so bad that my husband and I get regular sinus infections and my kids are going through allergy immunotherapy. We have more bad days than good days.

So any time there is something that can possibly help us with our allergies, I want to give it a try. We have major allergies, dry skin, itchy eyes…you name it, we have it or have had it. It’s tough.

One of the items I have wanted to try for a while is an air purifier. I have to be honest and say that I didn’t know much about air purifiers other than the general information. There are so many on the market it’s overwhelming.

Our Fellowes AP-300PH Air Purifier with PlasmaTrue Technology in the dining room/family room area before we moved it

But, when I heard about the Fellowes AP-300PH air purifier with PlasmaTrue technology, I knew I had to give it a try. The Fellowes AP-300PH air purifier is the ultimate tool for moms looking to reduce the risk of illness and allergies in their home.

We live in a part of Texas that has a lot of dust storms. March, April and May are the worst months out of the year…and since my girls birthdays are in April and May, they will pretty much never get a birthday party outside. It’s that windy. Like 55 MPH winds, windy. And with all that wind, guess what comes with it? Dust – lots of dust.

When I read that the Fellowes AP-300PH air purifier had a True HEPA Filter that safely removes 99.97% of airborne particulates as small as 0.3 microns, including pollen, dust mites, mold spores, pet dander, cigarette smoke and odors, I knew I had to give it a try. Luckily, we eliminate some of our allergy triggers because we don’t have pets and we don’t smoke. But with all the wind and dust, there is always pollen and dust mites swirling around our house. I shudder to think about mold spores because we live in a dry climate but you never know.

As I opened the box, I was kinda intimidated by the size. This air purifier was almost as big as my 3 year old! But since it’s designed to purify spaces up to 300 square feet, it had to be kind of big. :D

Initially, we put the air purifier in our kitchen/family room area because it’s one big open space and that’s where we all spend most of our time. While we could hear it working non-stop, it didn’t seem to clear the air so to speak. The air purity sensor monitors the air quality and automatically adjusts the fan speed to keep the air purified. We heard the fan going all the time and never heard it slow down, so we figured the space was too big because of the space and high (15 foot) ceilings.

So, we moved it to my oldest daughter’s room to see if we noticed a difference.

The first couple of nights were a little challenging because she had to get use to the noise of the fan. But by the third night, she fell right asleep and even noticed when it was “off”. It has become like white noise to her at this point.

At first, the only difference we noticed was the quieter fan because it wasn’t working as hard as it was. That is a good thing because we didn’t want to wear it out too quickly! Since her room is only about 120 square feet the air purifier could work more efficiently. After a a couple of weeks, we realized that Julia wasn’t waking up as congested as she had been. Then we started noticing that she had less dry coughs and less dry skin. While the air purifier doesn’t necessarily help alleviate dry skin, we attributed this to less allergens and dust in the air, therefore, she scratched less and didn’t agitate her eczema.

The PlasmaTRUE™ Technology safely removes airborne pollutants cleaning the air at the molecular level which instantly neutralizes viruses and germs. This is especially important this time of year when the weather turns colder and I imagine the girls will start to bring home kiddie cooties from school.

I really appreciate the easy to read display panel. It lights up and will let me know when to change the filter. No guessing involved. Yay!

Overall, we are quite happy with the Fellowes AP-300PH air purifier. At a suggested retail price of $199.99, we want to save our money to get two more. One for Olivia’s room and one for our bedroom. While the AP-300PH can cover up to 300 square feet, we didn’t notice the same performance in our large dining room/family room area because of the high ceilings.

So if you know somebody who suffers from allergies, I would highly recommend the Fellows AP-300PH air purifier. There are even some special deals available on Amazon now! You can get more information on all the different air purifiers from Fellowes at fellowes.com/airpurifiers.

There’s few things better than a classic pearl necklace. I think pearls look good when you’re dressed up, or even if you’re in jeans and boots.

When I was in my early twenties, I wore nothing but pearls. The bigger the better…think Wilma from the Flinstones But now that I am “older”, a mom and a business owner, I need to dress more conservatively.

However, I can never get away from the “bling”…

I was introduced to Park Lane Jewerly by Karen Doniere, Park Lane Independent Representative. Karen showed me all the wonderful jewelry available from Park Lane that lets anyone go from professional to fun, to trendy and in style. Take a look at the Happiness Necklace above – can’t you think of at least 3 outfits in your closet you could wear with it right now? :)

Park Lane Jewelry is a direct sales company founded in 1955. Direct from their website:

Founded in Chicago in 1955 by Arthur and Shirley LeVin, Jewels by Park Lane defines ‘The American Dream’. As the world’s leading direct sales jewelry party plan company, Park Lane proudly offers exceptional quality jewelry that is backed by an unconditional guarantee.

The matching value Bonus Item for customers, the Five Star hostess reward program, and the opportunity to have a home-based business as a Park Lane representative are just a few of the extraordinary incentives that make Park Lane an industry leader. As it has for fifty years, it all begins with the jewelry!

Jewelry expresses your mood, your attitude, your personality. Jewelry places your signature on your outfit. If you are in search of the perfect gift, jewelry is always appreciated and appropriate. Fashion-forward, unique, and exquisitely handcrafted, many Park Lane creations are inspired by world-renowned designers. Wear Park Lane jewelry with pride, and you will sparkle with beauty and confidence everywhere you go!

Park Lane has many wonderful options for finding the perfect piece of jewelry for yourself, or as a gift. You can contact Karen directly for more information about the products, hosting opportunity (so you can earn FREE jewelry) and the business opportunity. To contact Karen, fill out this form and she will get right back to you.

Before I had kids, I would get my nails done every two weeks. I enjoyed getting pampered at the salon with a manicure and a pedicure – I mean, who doesn’t?

These days though, I only go when I have to because I don’t have the extra time or the extra money to go back as often as I want to. Right now I only go for the obligatory pedicure so that I don’t wind up with an ingrown toenail. (I’m sorry if that was TMI!)

One thing I miss is having my nails done and looking nice. I use my hands all the time with typing and I look at them all day. It’s a constant reminder of how much I miss having nice looking nails.

Don’t get my wrong, I still grow my nails pretty long in fact. As a matter of fact, here’s a picture of my nails from last week when they were too long:

I took this picture of my nails while my daughter was napping

So the good news is that I can grow my nails, I just don’t have two hours to paint them, let them dry between coats and not do anything else for the rest of the day so I don’t mess them up. Even if I were to go to the salon, it would be the same two hours and $40 to get my nails done.

But I’m a girlie girl…I want my nails to look nice all the time. But even at the salon a manicure with regular nail polish lasts a week if I’m lucky (usually only 5 days). I’ve had gel nail polish manicures and I loved the fact that they lasted 2 – 3 weeks. But the $50 is hard on the pocket book.

What is Couture Gel Nail Polish?

Straight from their website: “Couture gel nail polish is a revolutionary new product that allows you to give yourself a home manicure with gorgeous color and absolute invincibility for up to three weeks. No chipping, no peeling, no loss of shine! Couture Gel Nail Polish is a UV-sensitive polish that is applied in three easy steps and dries quickly under our Espree Salon Lamp.

Your nails are 100% dry in only two minutes! After two or three weeks, the polish is easily removed by soaking your nails in acetone nail polish remover for a short five minutes. That’s it — no hassle, no mess, no more trips to the salon!”

I can tell you first hand, this home Gel Nail Polish system is amazing! I received the full kit pictured above with my choice of gel nail polish colors. From start to finish, the entire process took 30 minutes!

This includes:

cutting my nails down (they were too long anyway)

pushing the cuticles back

preparing the nail surface

base coat

one coat of gel nail polish (that’s all I needed!)

top coat

After each coat of gel nail polish, I cured my nails for two minutes and I have beautiful results in the comfort of my own home! I cannot say enough good things about this product, but I can show you my results:

Now, let me make a few comments on the process of using the gel nail polish:

It’s easier to use than regular nail polish. I only needed one coat and I thought my nails looked great. This means the bottle will last longer!

It’s been a long time since I did a full manicure, so I made a few mistakes like getting some on my cuticles but this will get better with time.

The gel nail polish is thicker than regular nail polish on purpose - this is great for filling in some of the natural ridges I had on my nails.

This picture is of my left hand because I’m right handed. I will have to have my husband take a picture of my right hand so you can get a full view (it looks better than my left.)

My nails have a wonderful shiny top coat that has taken a beating over the last few days. This picture was taken 5 days after the original manicure and it still looks great!

One of the things I really liked about Couture Gel Nail Polish is that there are no harsh chemicals in their products. Couture Gel Nail Polish is free of compounds such as formaldehyde, toulene or phthalates. Couture Gel Nail Polish is also manufactured in the United States (but they ship worldwide), so they can keep a close eye on the manufacturing process.

Couture has more than 65 beautiful colors of gel nail polish. One thing I was a little hesitant about was picking the colors because I was concerned they would be too dark or too bright. But after receiving my kit and trying their “Who’s That Girl” gel nail polish, I can confidently tell you that the color sample is true to the real color. I know sometimes it’s hard to see color online, but you can be confident with the color choices you make.

My only regret with this kit is that I didn’t choose some of the darker colors I would have liked. I kept my color selection on the safe side, but now I have a wishlist a mile long. :D

I think this is a great item for any stay at home mom or work at home mom, not just for the convenience, but the results and cost savings. The full kit pictured above is valued at $179, but you can order it right now for $129 plus free shipping and handling. (I’m not sure how long that price will last.) This means that within about 3 visits to the salon, your Couture Gel Nail Polish kit is paid for.

You can follow Couture Gel Nail Polish on Facebook and see pictures of customers’ nails. It’s a great way to see how the colors you like look on real nails. (Plus, they offer discounts if you sign up on their mailing list.)

I will definitely be a customer of Couture Gel Nail Polish for a long time to come. I need to add a button that says, “Will Work for Couture Gel Nail Polish.” Ha! :D

How often do you get a manicure? Have you tried a gel nail polish manicure before? What did you think?

Vessel revolutionizes the way women shop for jewelry and fragrance. Merging fragrance and jewelry into custom accessory pieces, Vessel creates the fusion of scent and style. Vessel is a direct sales, home party company built to empower women and give them an opportunity to love their work while building a successful future for themselves.

Our one-of-a-kind, patent-pending scent system combines beautiful lockets with unique ScentSpheres™. Perfume is infused into the ScentSpheres, which are then placed into the lockets. The fragrance will last from several days to several weeks, after which new scent vessels can be used with the perfume of your choice.

As you’ll see in the pictures below, Vessel Scents of Style offers a truly unique way to wear your jewelry and fragrance. They have many different options to customize your wardrobe with lockets, different necklaces (chains, ribbon and cord), bracelets, earrings and even charms for pets.

One of the reasons I chose to highlight Vessel Scents of Style is because it is truly a brand new company. They are so new, they are still working out the details of the complete compensation plan but it will be done before the end of 2012.

I spoke at length with co-founder Karen Carter to get all the details of becoming a new Stylist with this ground floor opportunity.

So here are all the details about this direct sales business opportunity:

The Stylist Kit is $199 (plus shipping/handling and tax) for more than $1000 in jewelry, which includes: One of each style of each of the products: 10 Lockets; 9 Chains, 1 Cord/Ribbon Necklace; 2 pairs of Locket Earrings; 3 Flowers; 1 of each Charm (12 Birthstone Charms, 16 Silver finish Charms); 1 set of each color/style of ScentSpheres (22 total); 1 set of ScentSpheres fragranced with each of the 12 fragrances; Literature (Product Guides, Company Brochure, Price List, Hostess Rewards Chart, Customer Order Forms, Hostess Order Forms, Pre-Launch Stylist Agreements, Gift Bags, Satin Bags).

The commission structure is 30% on all retail sales with the ability to earn up to 40% depending on retail sales. Stylists who choose to help other people start their own Vessel Scents of Style business will earn a commission if they have a minimum of $300 monthly personal sales volume and meet requirements to be considered Active. (The exact percent of commission will be detailed in the final compensation plan.)

There is a generous hostess program, which is provided by the company and does not come out of the Stylist’s commission. The Hostess rewards include both free and half price items.

Vessel Scents of Style is currently in pre-launch mode. This means that they do not have everything in place yet, such as the final compensation plan and replicated websites for Stylists to accept orders online. Co-founders Karen Carter and Susan Harward, who have both been in direct sales before, truly understand that this is a unique situation while they are trying to create the foundation of the company.

Therefore, they have a special pre-launch Stylist Agreement which outlines all the things that are pending and allows aspiring work at home moms to start their Vessel Scents of Style direct sales business now, with an option of not buying a kit at this time.

So how exactly will this work?

Well, new Stylists who sign the pre-launch agreement will be able to sell product and earn 30% commission on all retail sales. If new Stylists choose not to purchase the $199 Stylist Kit to begin their business, the company will send them a packet of support materials for their first party. They can also purchase on of each item in the current product assortment at a 50% discount during their first 30 days, after which they purchase product at the wholesale price which is 30% off retail. This would give the Stylist product to demonstrate and display at parties. Even though the Stylist Kit is not a required purchase at this time, it’s the most economical way to get all of the products in the current line and business marketing materials.

Once the company officially launches, all Stylists will be required to sign a new agreement and purchase a Stylist Kit at that time (if they haven’t already). If someone chooses not to sign the final agreement and purchase a Stylist Kit, then they will just be dropped from the system.

However, they can keep any commission they have earned from sales made.

Stylists who sign in pre-launch mode can even earn the money for their kit by hosting a party or two and using the commission to purchase the Stylist Kit.

This would be enough money to purchase the $199 Stylist Kit and some of the shipping/handling and tax charges.

As a special incentive, hostesses who have a party and turn in all their orders and money by December 19, 2012 will receive double the half price items on parties with a minimum of $250 in retail sales. So if you hosted your own party you could earn double half price items and money to purchase your kit.

For more information, you can engage with Vessel Scents of Style on Facebookand their blog at www.VesselScents.blogspot.com. Plus, you can post your comments and questions below and I will have Karen or Susan respond as soon as possible.

If you are interested in hosting a part for the special incentive, you can contact Vessel Scents of Style to find a Stylist in your area. If there’s no one available in your area yet, they can send you a sample of all the ScentSpheres™, order forms and pricing sheet to facilitate a party yourself and earn the hostess benefits!

One of the many options available for aspiring work at home moms to earn money from home is direct sales. Investing in a direct sales business can help someone earn the money they need without having to make a big initial financial investment. With the variety of direct sales businesses, finding something that suits your personality and interest is easier than ever.

JuJuBelle is a relatively new direct sales company that started a little over two years ago, which offers a unique interchangeable jewelry system. This is a party plan company that focuses on sharing the product in a party setting. Customers can create different pieces by customizing their selections with an a la carte shopping experience. There are over 1000 items to choose from! With products to fit anyone’s style the JuJuBelle jewelry line is truly something that can fit a wide range of ages from pre-teen to adult.

Since the product can appeal to a wide variety of people, JuJuBelle Consultants can sell their products to many different people. They can sell to their friends and family and school age children. The new styles added monthly and seasonal products give customers a good reason to come back and shop some more. The product line is very affordable with charms for as little as $1 and they have a very generous hostess program to help them earn 10% – 20% in free product.

Wearing your JuJuBelle pieces while out running errands with your kids is a great way to market your business. There are many beautiful styles to choose from such as: Greek, Vintage, Sports, and Animal Lovers. They even currently have charms for Breast Cancer Awareness month with a 20% donation to the Susan G. Komen Foundation. :)

Starting your own JuJuBelle business is affordable too. For only $149 plus shipping, handling and tax, you’ll receive over $250 in products, marketing materials and party supplies. The starting commission is 45% on on all product sales, with the opportunity to earn more if you choose to build your JuJuBelle business and sponsor other moms to help them work from home.

While the holidays may be a great time to start a new business and earn extra money, the possibilities are endless. I have two young girls and they would LOVE a JuJuBelle birthday party where they get to make their own jewelry and wear it the same day.

So, if you are thinking about working from home in direct sales, you should consider JuJuBelle. The company hosts monthly opportunity calls where you can dial in to learn more about the company and how to start your business. If you happen to miss the live call, you can listen to a recorded version at your convenience. Visit JuJuBelle on their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/JuJuBelleRocks to get updates information for the weekly calls and phone number. (Plus, they host some really awesome giveaways very often and you could win!)

You didn’t know it, but I have been hard at work for the last three months looking all over the internet and working with great PR agencies to help find the BEST gifts for the work at home mom or aspiring work at home mom. One of the things I focused on doing is creating a gift guide that would be good all year long. Even though the holidays are just around the corner, the gifts in this guide can be given year round.

As a work at home mom or aspiring work at home mom, you probably have a wish list a mile long of things you want or need for your business. You’re constantly finding ways to fund your next big idea and the tools to make your job easier.

I get that.

I’m a work at home mom too. I know what it’s like to work hard and build a business around my family. I’m raising two small toddler girls and there never seems to be enough time (or money) to get things done. I have to be really smart and strategic about the things I invest in.

So it’s with great pride and care that I introduce this Gift Guide to you. For the next four weeks, I’ll be highlighting great gifts for the work at home mom.

Starting this week here is the line up:

Gifts for the Aspiring Work at Home Mom (business and money making opportunities)

Gifts for the Glamour Mom

Gifts for the Crafty, Techy and Business Mom

Gifts for the Health Conscious Mom

Each day I’ll be highlighting a different company or product. If you’ve signed up for my mailing list, then you’ll get an email every day with the new post. If you haven’t joined my mailing list yet, you can check back every day or sign up at http://eepurl.com/dW0L.

Please post your comments and let me know what you think of the items I post. I’d love for feedback so we can make this the best resource for you!